Author's notes: This is my first fic for this fandom, and I'm actually a bit nervous about posting this. Although I did write fan fiction for other fandoms before I haven't written anything for a while, so my writing here may not be my best. This idea wouldn't leave me alone so I had to write it down. This is an AU fic so the storyline will differ from the original storyline!

No pairings planned so far, however expect some non-slash Thorin and Bilbo cuteness!

Also I totally butchered the timeline, messed up with the character's ages, and there may or may not be some slightly out of character but I tried my best, and keep in mind that this is AU!

Criticism both positive and negative are welcome so feel free to leave a comment!

Chapter 1

There were many things Prince Thrain was proud of, and being the future king of the greatest dwarven kingdom was not the least of these things. However his greatest pride was his young son. It wasn't unusual for the dwarves of Erebor to see their crown prince walking along the long corridors with a small bundle carefully wrapped in warm blankets comfortably resting in his arms, sometimes even taking the little dwarfling with him at council meetings, letting him rest in his lap while the proud father lovingly ran a hand through the mane of raven black hair. The proud, loving glint in his eyes in those moments was obvious to everyone; and some council members would politely compliment their prince for having produced such a fine little dwarf, and they couldn't help but mirror the tender smile that appeared on Thrain's face. The crown prince of Erebor loved nothing more than his son, and there was no doubt that he would be devastated if the young little prince were to disappear.

After a couple of years the little prince Thorin began to grow up fast and so did the love his father felt for him. It was a well known fact in the kingdom that King Thror was beginning to act strange, some would even say that he was sick, the kind of sickness of the mind that knew no cure. Those were tough times for the crown prince who had to bear even more responsibilities and take care of most of the king's duties in place of his father. Thrain was even more grateful these days to have his son who never failed to bring happiness in his life, and a smile on his face. When he had to travel outside of his kingdom he would often bring the little prince with him which would considerably lighten his mood. It was easier now that the princeling wasn't a mere baby anymore, and little Thorin certainly didn't mind, he liked nothing more than to be with his father and discovering new places.

Thorin was comfortably nestled against his father's chest, lulled to sleep by the slow, regular pace of their pony. He was awoken by the screams of their guards, and he opened his eyes, blinking around in confusion. A sudden jerk of the pony made him scream and he hit the ground painfully, holding back a pained yell when he saw his father running to him. He was vaguely aware of sounds similar to those he was used to hearing when his father took him to watch the guards train in the lower levels of the kingdom, and he noticed that there were other dwarves encircling them, fighting the guards. He was frightened and confused, not understanding what was going on, but his father was here, running to him, he would gather him in his strong arms and he would be safe again.

However his father didn't reach him in time. Another pair of hands roughly grabbed him and he let out a loud scream, kicking and punching with all the strength his small limbs could muster, but the grip the stranger had on him only tightened and he was taken away, watching helplessly as his father was surrounded by more of these wild dwarves, fighting with a blind rage, desperately screaming his son's name.

"Eat this" one of the dwarves said, dropping a piece of small, dry bread in front of Thorin. The dwarfling stared at it for a short moment, then looked up at the dwarf with huge frightened eyes, not daring to say a word.

"I said eat this" the dwarf repeated, picking up the bread and shoving it under Thorin's nose, who took it hesitantly. It had been days since the fight now, though he couldn't tell how long exactly, but it seemed like a lifetime since the day on which he had been taken from his father. He was tired, scared and hungry, but there was no way he could eat that foul looking piece of bread. Even his captors grimaced while eating it, and it didn't look appetizing at all. The dwarfling was at a loss of what to do. He had tried countless times to glare at his captors as best as he could from his short size, telling them his name with as much of a commanding tone as he could muster and demanding to be freed and returned to his father, but the other dwarves had only laughed at him.

"Yes, we know who you are, and that's exactly why you are with us right now" the tallest of the would reply with a menacing grin. So the dwarfling had remained quiet, until now.

"I want some meat" Thorin said timidly. His captors all turned to look at him with expressions of mixed amusement and annoyance.

"We don't have any, so eat whatever we give you" one of them groaned.

"But I don't want to eat this, I want meat!" Thorin said, louder this time, using the whining voice he used when he tried to get his father or someone else to do something he wanted. He threw the bread to the ground and looked up at the dwarves in defiance, holding their gazes and trying his best to hide his fear. He didn't see the slap coming, so hard that he was knocked to the ground.

"Shut up, you little shit, you either eat what we have or you don't eat at all" he heard a deep, grumpy voice say. The dwarfling whimpered faintly, remaining on the ground in the same position, not daring to move. His cheek was stinging from where he had been hit and his head hurt too.

"He hasn't eaten anything since we took him" another dwarf said. "It wouldn't be wise to let him die of hunger, he'd be of no use to us then. We need him alive if we want our plan to succeed."

"Who cares whether he eats or not" another snorted. "As long as we have him the king will be forced to do as we say."

"I've heard that he doesn't even care about his own kin anymore, he's gone all mad for his gold" the larger dwarf said.

"Even if he doesn't, his son will. The crown prince will do anything to get this little one back" another one said gesturing to where Thorin lay still on the ground. "If the king refuses to abduct, then we turn to the crown prince and force him to take his father's place. And as long as we have his son he will have to do as we say. It's almost as if we have our own asses on the throne" he added with a short laugh.

"Our leader, you mean" a particularly tall dwarf groaned. "The plan was all his idea, and we will do as he told us. Now someone's better get up and shoot a deer, or a rabbit, I don't care what it is, just bring back some meat. The boss wouldn't be pleased if the little brat isn't delivered alive and healthy to him. And hurry up, we have to leave again as soon as possible."

Four of the seemingly younger dwarves stood up, groaning and mumbling to themselves, gathered their arms and left to hunt. The camp was suddenly silent, the only sound coming from the small fire they had lit. Thorin took a tentative look at the remaining dwarves; three of them were obviously asleep, two others were whispering to each other, and the last one was busy cleaning his axe. None of them seemed to notice the little dwarfling as he slowly stood up, took a deep breath and bolted, running as fast as his legs would take him to the nearest bushes, then deeper into the forest. There were angry shouts coming from behind him, but he didn't dare look back and ran, ran even faster, thinking about nothing but the need to escape.

He didn't stop running until it was dark, and only then did he allow himself a short break before taking off again. He had no idea where he was or in which direction he was heading but it didn't matter, he just needed to get away from those awful dwarves and find someone, anyone who could help him.

It was dawn when he collapsed to the ground, unable to take another step. He crawled under thick bushes and laid down, tears of exhaustion running down his face. He was alone, lost, hungry and hunted, but he would somehow find his way to safety, and back to his father, he just had to. There was no other choice and he didn't want to think about the many things that could happen to him if he didn't find help soon. He would, he was sure of it, and he fell asleep with this thought, clinging to it with all his might.

Bilbo Baggins was used to finding strange things when wandering in the forest. Unknown mushrooms, fallen trees and wounded animals weren't unusual to him, but a small child with dirty, torn clothes was. Said child was looking up at him with big, frightened blue eyes, obviously exhausted and famished but ready to run away would Bilbo make a single move towards him.

"What are you doing here? Are you lost? Don't be afraid, I just want to help you" he said as gently as possible, offering a tentative smile to the child. The little creature stared at him, looking him up and down a few times, seemingly impressed by his big, hairy hobbit feet, obviously trying to decide whether he was facing a friend or a foe.

"Come here", Bilbo said quietly, crouching down, his smile widening a little. It happened more than once than his nephews and nieces, especially on the Took side of his family wandered a bit too far and got lost, sometimes disappearing for a couple of days, but this child had something unusual about him. His suspicions were confirmed when the child took a few hesitant steps towards him, limping and grimacing in pain. This wasn't a hobbit child.

"Are you hurt?" he asked gently, watching as the child nodded weakly and pointed to his ankle. "Let me see this" Bilbo said, slowly inching forward until he was close enough to touch the child. He carefully inspected the injured ankle, He let off a sigh of relief when he didn't find any sign of fracture.

"Looks like you sprained you ankle" he said, carefully touching the swollen area. Thorin whimpered softly but didn't pull away, neither did he fight the stranger when he cradled him into his arms and gently lifted him, surprised to find him heavier than he would have expected for someone so small.

The strange creature certainly wasn't a dwarf, it was smaller than most dwarves, dressed oddly and walked barefoot, but the voice was calming, and Thorin had no strength left to fight so he let himself be carried and closed his tired eyes, vaguely hearing the creature who had found him talk about bringing him to his home, promising him food and a bed for the night. He sighed contentedly at these words, a small, tired smile appearing on his lips. He was asleep before they reached the road to Hobbiton, and long before they arrived to Bilbo's house.

Thorin awoke a couple of hours later, feeling a bit better and rested but confused by his surroundings. He was in a bed in a strange room, yet he was not alone, he could hear faint noises coming from another room further into the house –surely this place had to be someone's house, it did look like one even if it was nothing like the stone halls of Erebor the young dwarfling was used to. Sweet, spicy smells reached his nostrils, reminding him how hungry he was and he silently slipped out of bed. The scents of food smelt so good he couldn't help but follow them, slowly walking around the house, staring at his surroundings with big surprised eyes. He was in an underground hole, this much he was sure of, and it was somewhat reassuring, yet it was so different from his own home.

Bilbo smiled to himself as he heard the hesitant footsteps behind him and he turned around to see the little dwarf awkwardly standing in the middle of the kitchen, sniffing around, looking up at him with his big blue eyes.

"I see someone woke up just in time for second breakfast" Bilbo said gently, pulling out a chair for the dwarfling to sit. He finished to cook his eggs and bacon and put everything on a plate, placing it on the table along with the toasts, bagels and jars of jam. Thorin followed his every move, intrigued, his mouth watering at the sight of all the delicious food placed in front of him. Bilbo took place in his own chair and filled two plates, one for himself and one for his guest, who proceeded to gulp down every bit of food in no time, looking up at the hobbit with pleading eyes once he was finished, hoping for more. Of course Bilbo obliged and encouraged him to pick whatever he wanted and eat as much as he desired. Thorin stuffed himself with food, filling his plate a third time. He took his time to savor every flavor now that he was no longer famished, his eyes still following Bilbo's every move.

He still couldn't figure out what exactly this strange creature was, as he obviously was no dwarf like he himself was, and he was unsure what he was supposed to do or what Bilbo wanted to do with him, yet the hobbit's calm, quiet demeaning told Thorin that he was no potential danger. It seemed all Bilbo wanted was to help him and take care of him. Maybe he had finally found an ally?

The hobbit busied himself washing the dishes and putting some order in the kitchen before beginning to bake cookies. Sure enough it wasn't long before the dwarfling was beside him again, standing on his tiptoes, trying to peer into the bowl where Bilbo was kneading his dough. The hobbit smiled at him encouragingly and held out a hand to him.

"I bet you like cookies" he said smiling when the dwarfling nodded enthusiastically. "Then why don't you come here and help me a bit?"

Thorin stared at the outstretched hand, hesitant for a moment before he bravely took a step forward and grabbed Bilbo's hand. The hobbit pulled out a stool for the little dwarf to stand on and showed him how to knead the dough, gently taking his hands in his own to guide his movements. The dwarfling remained silent but the curious glint in his eyes made it obvious that he was enjoying himself. The hobbit tried to get him to talk, gently asking him if he was lost and where his parents were, but the dwarfling only shook his head and stubbornly refused to utter a single word. After a while Bilbo gave up and stopped asking questions, only addressing his little guest to give him instructions on how to form the cookies and place them on the baking plate.

"Now what about taking a bath?" Bilbo suggested once the cookies were in the oven. "It will be some time before we can eat these, we could get you cleaned up in the meanwhile" he suggested. Thorin was still wearing his dirty, torn clothes and it pained the hobbit to see him in such a state. He held out his hand and Thorin took it without much hesitation this time, obediently following him to the bathroom. The little dwarf seemed a bit reluctant at first when Bilbo stripped him out of his clothes but once he was in the tub filled with hot water he appeared to be much calmer, letting the hobbit soap him up while he quietly played with the water, splashing around with his little hands. Bath time was something familiar, and it soothed him immediately, making him almost forget about the last few days. He was warm, comfortable and he felt safe, and it that moment nothing else seemed to matter.

Bilbo couldn't help but notice how different his little guest was from a hobbit child. He had muscles where hobbits had a healthy little amount of fat, and he was much stronger in built, even for such a young child. The more Bilbo observed him, the more he was convinced that this was a little dwarf, but it had him even more confused since there weren't any dwarves in the Shire, he himself had only ever heard of dwarves by some of his Took cousins who had travelled as far as Bree, where a few dwarves were sometimes to be seen, mostly merchants or travelling smiths, and even those were rather rare. Sure, he had read about dwarves in numerous books, but he had never really been curious about gold greedy creatures who lived in dark caves, and while he would sometimes go for long walks, hoping to spot some elves in the woods, he had never had much interest in meeting a dwarf. Yet here he was, back from another unsuccessful attempt at seeing elves, instead bringing a little dwarf into his home. That wasn't really a respectable thing to do, come to think of it, and surely not the kind of thing that would be likely to happen to a Baggins, but then letting a lost child, be it a hobbit or a dwarf, starve in the forest was definitely even less respectable, and something Bilbo would never resign himself to do. If help was needed, then help he would provide, and that little dwarf looked like he could indeed use some help.

"I'm Bilbo Baggins" he said once Thorin was clean and comfortably wrapped in one of Bilbo's warm bathrobes, which was of course way too big for such a small child. He would have to ask one of his neighbors if they had any children clothes that he could borrow, but he wasn't really looking forward to explaining to Miss Gamgee why a confirmed bachelor like him suddenly needed children clothing. Of course the little dwarf needed something to wear, but for now this would have to do. "And what is your name?"

Thorin was about to tell his own name when he remembered how disastrous it had proved to be with the dwarves who had kidnapped him. If his name could get him in trouble with them, maybe it would get him in trouble with Bilbo too? What if he suddenly decided to throw him out, or even worse to lock him up somewhere? In Erebor most dwarves knew who he was and those who didn't showed him respect as soon as he told them his name, but it seemed that this wasn't the case when outside of his home. It had the little dwarf confused, but he understood that being a prince meant that he could be taken prisoner like he had been when these mean dwarves had torn him from his father's side, so he decided to stubbornly remain silent and not reveal his real name, even when Bilbo asked him a second time. The hobbit sighed, at a loss of what to do. The poor little dwarf hadn't spoken a single word since Bilbo had found him, he looked frightened and lost, and the hobbit had no idea what to do to make him feel better. Slowly, he crouched down in front of Thorin.

"I know you are lost and scared, but you don't need to be afraid of me. I only want to help you if I can, and you are welcome to stay here until we find your family again, alright?" he said before he could realize that he had just invited a dwarf to stay with him in his home. But then there wasn't anyone he could think of who would be willing to offer the dwarfling shelter, and he was so tiny, it wasn't as if he had a full grown dwarf living in his home. Now that would be something totally unrespectable, something he would never want to happen to him, he thought shaking his head in disgust. No, he wasn't sheltering a dwarf, he was only offering help to a lost child, that was something entirely different.

His mind made up he offered his hand to the dwarfling who took it instantly this time, and he smiled as he led the child to a small room at the back of the hobbit hole. The little dwarf trotted alongside him like it was the most natural thing, and Bilbo's smile widened as he wondered if this meant that the child was beginning to trust him. They came to a halt when they reached Bilbo's study, and Thorin's eyes widened when he gazed up at the he family tree covering almost all of the walls.

"This is my extended family tree" Bilbo said proudly; like every hobbit he had a passion for genealogy and while his family tree was probably one of the biggest he wasn't the only one to have it exposed on his walls. It was a nice thing to look at while sitting at his study, and it gained the attention of his visitors, providing a nice subject of conversation for the rest of the day.

"If you are to stay you will need a name" he explained to the dwarfling whose eyes were still glued to the many different names and dates on the wall. "Why don't you see if there's one here that you like? Take your time, I will check on our cookies in the meantime" he said softly and left a now very curious dwarfling as he made his way back to the kitchen. When he came back Thorin was standing on a chair, attentively reading the names of Bilbo's Took ancestors with a look of concentration on his face. The hobbit smiled and came to stand beside him.

"So, is there any name you like?" he asked, watching the dwarfling's eyes light up with excitation. Thorin nodded enthusiastically and pointed to a name way up in the genealogy.

"Bandobras Took? Oh dear, I'm sorry but you can't have this name" Bilbo said with a chuckle. "He is considered as a hero amongst hobbits, some may or may not approve of what he did, after all he was no ordinary hobbit, but no one would even think of naming a child after him. Maybe there's another one that you like? There are so many" he said, honestly surprised that a dwarfling who knew nothing of hobbits and had probably never heard of the great Bullroarer Took would spontaneously choose his name amongst the many others .He let his eyes wander over the numerous names, smiling to himself as every now and then a name would catch his eye, reminding him of certain memories he had of his relatives, even the most distant cousins, and he didn't notice that the little dwarf was now pointing to another name not far from the legendary Bullroarer Took. He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a little voice struggling to read the name.

"Isen…grim?" Thorin said hesitantly, looking at Bilbo for approval.

"Isengrim was a rather common name in the Took family" Bilbo began to say, and as every other hobbit a single name triggered him to talk on lengths on said ancestor, on this case ancestors, and he was just about to start with the first Isengrim in the Took genealogy when it suddenly dawned on him that the little dwarf had just made a choice.

"This is how you want to be named?" he said incredulously, watching the dwarfling nodding frantically, a big grin on his face.

"Very well, this will be your name then" Bilbo said smiling, relief washing over him. Finally the little dwarf had decided to talk. Thorin jumped down from the stool and ran to him, beaming.

"Does this mean that I can stay with you until I find my family again?" he said his eyes shining with hope.

"Of course you can stay, well for the time being at least, and I promise I will do my best to help you find your family again. Now come, it's almost time for elevensies, let's see if the cookies are ready to be eaten."

Thorin ran by his side and took his hand, following him back to the kitchen.

"What's elevensies?" he asked, making the hobbit chuckle.

"You will see, little one. I will show you" he replied.

The little dwarf had been at his home for barely a couple of hours and he was already starting to affect him. Bilbo would never admit it but he had been feeling lonely ever since his parents' death, even though there wasn't a single day without either someone coming to visit him or himself going out for a walk or stopping by one of his friends or relatives for a cup of tea. He had never complained about still being a bachelor either, but as much as he would reprimand his turbulent nephews and nieces for being too loud and making a mess in his house and his garden there was no doubt that he loved children and enjoyed their presence. As much as this little dwarf was intriguing, Bilbo couldn't say that he was unhappy that he was here. He now had someone to take care of, and he would be damned if he didn't try his best to do just that.